Well, I'm back from the field exercise, having survived 5 days without a shower and only MREs (Meals, Ready to Eat) to eat. I've done this in my early Canadian military career but it gets harder (mentally) as you get older. The purpose of the exercise was to evaluate our readiness to move forward. We had to show that we could defend our encampment and convoy movement from attackers.

As far as living conditions, imagine walking into a giant field in pitch darkness (no lights allowed), with ankle deep mud, and not knowing where you're supposed to go. That was my experience the 2nd day of the exercise. After finding my way to the Supply area, I located a shipping container where 4 of us lay down our sleeping gear. That night, I was greeted by a cacaphony of snooring by at least 2 of the folks in the container. That went on another 2 nights. I should have set up my tent! I got more sleep than most (benefits of being in Supply) so I really have nothing to complain about. Also, given the serious nature of our mission, this was an important training evolution.

MREs aren't that bad to eat. There's a large selection to choose from and the entree is hot. It comes with a plastic sleeve that holds a slender heating pad. You activate the heating pad with just a few ounces of water. You pour the water in, insert the packaged entree into the plastic sleeve, wait 5 minutes et voila. I had spaghetti and meat sauce, chicken dumpling, and penne pasta. It also comes with a lot of extras to round out the meal.

During the exercise, we had to wear our tactical body armor with full plates, front and sides, and helmet. I've been selling the stuff for years; now I can relate to the soldier wearing them. It is very heavy and limiting in movement. Protection definitely comes at a cost. Hopefully we won't have to wear it very often in the future.

The past few days have been the Supply show. We've been issuing desert uniforms and helping folks send back any uniform and personal items not needed for our final destination. While we've made our physical transition from Woodland to Desert uniforms, I think we are going through a similar mental transition. No one talks about it or seems tense. In fact most are ready to move forward, having begun preparing for this in early December. Most of the guys have gotten very short haircuts, somewhat a reflection of their warrior attitude. It's hard to believe these are all Navy guys. I think, in fact, they are more like Marines than Navy. I'm a holdout, however, and will go for a short but not "shortest" haircut. I'm ready to move forward as well because it means getting home sooner to my family. Regards to all!!